Re-usable mold for poured concrete rail

ABSTRACT

A pair of end sections which may be assembled to form an opening in a poured concrete rail, said end sections including supporting means upon which are mounted top plates and end plates to define the peripheral surfaces of an opening. A clamping means to releasably clamp the supportive members together for use of the assembly in combination with a mold for pouring the rail, said clamping means including a pair of lugs which may be driven toward each other to a clamping position to clamp against the supporting means, and reversely moved from said clamping position and allowed to assume a release position. The top plates may receive between them a central plate having respective edges corresponding to the respective adjacent edges of the aforesaid top plates by which means the length of the mold can be determined. Each end plate is formed of two vertically, contiguously associated panels, an upper panel, having its lower edge resting on the upper edge of a lower panel, and the juncture of two said panels being so formed as to afford withdrawal of the lower panel whereby the entire mold is allowed to drop sufficiently to facilitate its removal from a hardened concrete wall.

United States Patent 1 V Theeke Sept. 25, 1973 1 RE-USABLE MOLD FOR POURED CONCRETE RAIL [76] Inventor: Patrick H. 'Theeke, 650 N.

Evergreen, Plymouth, Mich. 48170 [22] Filed: Nov. 24, 1971 [21] Appl. No: 201,916

[52] US. Cl 249/192, 249/50, 249/155,

249/184 [51] Int. Cl. E04g 9/00 [58] Field of Search 249/192, 193, 196,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,525,702 2/1925 Talbot 249/196 1,564,541 12/1925 Dodd 249/184 Primary Examiner-J. Spencer Overholser Assistant Examiner-DeWalden W. Jones AttorneyAllan J. Murray [57] ABSTRACT A pair of end sections which may be assembled to form an opening in a poured concrete rail, said end sections 1 including supporting means upon which are mounted top plates and end plates to define the peripheral surfaces of an opening. A clamping means to releasably clamp the supportive members together for use of the assembly in combination with a mold for pouring the rail, said clamping means including a pair of lugs which may be driven toward each other to a clamping position to clamp against the supporting :means, and reversely moved from said clamping position and allowed to assume a release position. The top plates may receive between them a central plate having respective edges corresponding to the respective adjacent edges of the aforesaid top plates by which means the length of the mold can be determined. Each end plate is formed of two vertically, contiguously associated panels, an upper panel, having its lower edge resting on the upper edge of a lower panel, and the juncture of two said panels being so formed as to afford withdrawal of the lower panel whereby the entire mold is allowed to drop sufficiently to facilitate its removal from a hardened concrete wall.

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RE-USABLE MOLD FOR POURED CONCRETE RAIL AREA or INVENTION Invention is believed to lie in the novel provision of a sectional mold form with means to insert a central top plate and thereby govern the length of the mold form, and further in providing for end plates divided into two panels so that the mold form rests on the lower panel, and further in providing for the juncture of the two panels comprising the end plates to be so formed as to afford withdrawal of the lower panel and thus permit the mold form to drop to facilitate its removal from a hardened rail, and the further combination therewith of a novel clamping means including at least two vertical plates in close parallel juxtaposition, each plate carrying a lug, and each plate having vertically registering horizontally elongated slots, said slots being horizontally staggered so that a wedge shaped drive means may be received in said slots and driven in one direction to bring said lugs to their clamping position and driven in the opposite direction to a release position to allow disassembly of the device and its removal from a hardened concrete rail.

An object of the invention is to provide a re-usable mold to form an opening for either ornamental or utilitarian purposes in a poured concrete rail and to further provide a new form of clamping mechanism tomaintain the form in assembly, but to afford its easy disassembly.

These and various other objects are attained by the invention hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the mold form, showing a member associated with the mold form at one end thereof to form a pedestal of the rail between consecutive openings.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the device taken on line 22 of FIG. 1. t

FIG.' 3 is an end elevational view of the device taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2,'but omitting the clamps.

FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional partial view on line 3A-3A of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a sectional elevational view of the device taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and showing the clamps.

FIG. 5 is view of the clamping device on a larger scale and is limited to the area shown by the circle in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a vertical, sectional, partial view taken on line. 5-5 of FIG. 6, omitting the wedge shaped drive member to more clearly disclose the relationship of the slots.

FIG. 7 is a view looking downwardly on the clamp, and with the plate members removed, taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a side elevational diagrammatic view of a rail of poured concrete with a series of consecutive holes formed therein and spaced from each other by pedestal members.

In these views the reference character 1 represents a left-hand section of the mold, and the reference character 2 represents the right-hand section of said mold. Each section includes horizontal channel members 3 and vertical channel members'4 as is clearly seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. It may be desirable to reinforce the construction by the use of gussets 5.

Top plates 6, having identically opposite vertical dimensions surmount each section, and are formed with inner ends 7 and outer ends 8. As is clearly seenin FIG.

1, The inner ends 7 are cut at an angle to correspond to and engage with the side faces of a central section 9. As is hereinafter further explained, the central section can be removed independently of the rest of the mold once a poured concrete rail has hardened. To facilitate such removal it is preferred that the side surfaces of said central plate converge rearwardly as shown in FIG. 1, and that the inner end faces 7 of the top plate 6 correspond thereto.

Each section, 1 and 2, is formed with end plates 10 comprised of an upper panel 11 having a lower edge inclined as illustrated in FIG. 3, and a lower panel 13 having its upper edge inclined correspondingly to that of said lower edge with which it is conjoined at 12. It is desired to rabbet both said edges with an outer dependent flange 120 on the upper panel to retain the lower panel in position.

The reference character 15 designates generally a clamp formed, as best seen in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, of a U- shaped bracket member 16 having parallel side plates and carrying an upstanding rib 17 to which is secured an elongated lug 18. Slidably received between the U- shaped plates and obviously parallel thereto, is a plate 19 so formed as to carry an elongated lug 20 disposed in opposition to the aforesaid elongated lug 18. As may be seen, the respective lugs may be so disposed as to engage in respective horizontal channel members 3. The U-shaped member 16 is formed with two parallel registered elongated slots 21 and the plate 19 is formed with a single elongated slot 22 which registers vertically with the aforesaid slots 21, but is horizontally offset therefrom. The slots receive a tapered wedge 23 formed with an inclined edge 24.

.It will be apparent thatby driving the wedge 23 to the left as portrayed in FIGS. 5 and 7, the inclined edge will bear against the end of the slot 22 in the plate 19 and force reciprocable, mutual travel of the two lugs to a clamping position wherein the said lugs engage the web of the channel members 3. A lug 25 may be secured to the smaller end of the wedge 23 to resist withdrawal thereof from the slots.

If it is desired to impose upon the finished concrete rail a cant, or angular facet, the edges of the various top end plates may be formed at a suitable angle to receive, as for example, an angle iron 26 on each of the top plates 6; an angle iron 27 on the top plate 9; and angle irons 28 and 29 secured respectively to the end panels 11 and 13. It is proposed that a rail may consist of horizontal member a with interspersed pedestal b. It is proposed, of course, that the end plates 10 on a pair of molds such as is' hereinabove described, would form two faces b of each pedestal, and it would be necessary, of course, to provide concrete retaining members to form the other two faces b. The right-hand end of FIG. 1 shows partially a panel 30 to form one face b" of the pedestal. The said panel may be reinforced by outer members 31 and may, if desired, carry an angle iron 30a to form a vertical cant upon the rear corner face of the pedestal.

Also disclosed in phantom line in FIG. 1, is a front form wall 32 for the rail, as well as a rear form wall 32a for the rail. If desired, a cant ring is disposed upon one of the. upper plates in a predetermined position, said ring. being formed with a removable upper section 34.

As seen in FIG. 3A, a short piece of angle iron 35 is secured as by welding to each downwardly dependent leg 36 of the upper section 34. A protruding portion of the short angle iron slidably and releasably engages in the lower section 37 of the cant ring. The upper span of the 5 ring 340 surmounts the poured concrete and is easily removable from the hardened rail to leave a V-shaped impression therein. Following removal of upper section 34, the lower section may be removed and the rail will bear a circumferentially extending V-shaped depresl0 sron.

It may now been seen that the width of the central top plate 9 affords control over the length of the mold, and consequently of the opening to be formed in a rail. Further, once a rail has been poured and has hardened, the central panel 9 may be withdrawn independently of the rest of the mold, to facilitate removal of the mold. Also, as is particularly clear in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the vertical channels 4 are somewhat shorter than the combined length of the end panels 11 and 13, so that the entire mold rests upon the lower end panels 13. Consequently, when the poured concrete has hardened, the inclined edges 13 of the upper panel 11 and lower panel 13 afford withdrawal of the lower panel so that the mold is then permitted to drop downwardly until it rests upon the bottoms of the vertical channels 4. This will further facilitate removal of the mold from the opening.

Finally, by driving the wedge 23 reversely of its origina] travel, the clamping action of the clamp 15 is reversed, the lugs being permitted to assume a release position, the clamp 15 can then be slid in either direction to allow center portion of each section 1 and 2 to drop downwardly to still further facilitate removal of the de- 5 vice from a hardened wall.

I claim:

l. The combination with a form for poured concrete rails including concrete retaining side walls and end walls, of a mold to form an opening in a poured concrete rail, said mold including,

separable complementary end sections,

a top plate on each complementary section, said top plate having an inner and outer end,

an end plate secured to each said outer end and approximately transverse to the plane of said top plates to form the peripheral surfaces of an openmg,

at least one beam secured to and beneath each top plate of each end section, each beam having a protruding length elongated beyond the inner edge of said top plate, said beams abutting each other in the assembled mold, and

a clamp to rigidly but releasably secure said beams together, said clamp being releasable to allow disengagement of said beams to afford withdrawal of said mold from a hardened rail.

2. In the combination as set forth in claim 1,

a central plate section received between the respective inner edges of said top plates and supported by said protruding lengths of said beams, whereby the width of said central plate section determines the length of said mold form and of said opening.

3. In the combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein 65 each said end plate includes,

an upper panel having a lower edge, and

a lower panel having an upper edge,

said upper and lower edges being conjoined in assembly of the mold to support the mold form upon said lower panels,

said upper and lower edges being formed at an angle so predetermined to the plane of the top plate as to afford ready withdrawal of the supportive lower end panels from a hardened wall to permit the mold form to drop downwardly and facilitate its removal.

4. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, said end plate including an upper panel having a lower edge, and

a lower panel having an upper edge,

said upper and lower edges being conjoined in assembly of the mold to support the mold form upon said lower panels,

said upper and lower edges being formed at an angle so predetermined to the plane of the top plate as to afford ready withdrawal of the supportive lower end panels from a hardened wall to permit the mold form to drop downwardly and facilitate its removal.

5. In the combination as set forth in claim 1,

said first means being elongated channel members having spaced, parallel side'flanges and a web joining said flanges, and wherein said webs abut in the assembled mold,

said fastening means being a clamp, including two members relatively movable between a clamping position and a release position,

respective lugs carried by said respective members and engageable in said respective channels and carried by said members in said travel,

drive means to drive said members toward each other in reciprocable relative travel to the clamping position, or from each other to the release position.

6. In the combination as set forth in claim 5,

each said movable member including at least one flat plate, said respective lugs being mounted upon said respective flat plates,

said plates occupying closely juxaposed parallel planes, and said drive means being effective upon said plates to effect said travel of said plates and lugs to a clamping or release position.

7. In the combination as set forth in claim 6,

an elongated slot formed in each plate in parallel relationship,

said slots being longitudinally ofiset with respect to each other,

said drive means being a wedge mutually received in said slots and movable to drive said flanges to carry said lugs to said clamping position.

8. In the combination as set forth in claim 1 a cant ring surmounting said plates,

said cant ring including a pair of spaced vertical limbs,

a horizontal span disposed to surmount any one of said top plates, and spanning and rigidly conjoining said two limbs, and

said cant ring further including an upper section comprising two downwardly elongated limbs, and upper horizontal span spacing and conjoining said limbs, said upper section surmounting said lower section, and means to releasably maintain said upper and lower sections in assembly to afford disassembly thereof from a hardened concrete rail. 

1. The combination with a form for poured concrete rails including concrete retaining side walls and end walls, of a mold to form an opening in a poured concrete rail, said mold including, separable complementary end sections, a top plate on each complementary section, said top plate having an inner and outer end, an end plate secured to each said outer end and approximately transverse to the plane of said top plates to form the peripheral surfaces of an opening, at least one beam secured to and beneath each top plate of each end section, each beam having a protruding length elongated beyond the inner edge of said top plate, said beams abutting each other in the assembled mold, and a clamp to rigidly but releasably secure said beams together, said clamp being releasable to allow disengagement of said beams to afford withdrawal of said mold from a hardened rail.
 2. In the combination as set forth in claim 1, a central plate section received between the respective inner edges of said top plates and supported by said protruding lengths of said beams, whereby the width of said central plate section determines the length of said mold form and of said opening.
 3. In the combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein each said end plate includes, an upper panel having a lower edge, and a lower panel having an upper edge, said upper and lower edges being conjoined in assembly of the mold to support the mold form upon said lower panels, said upper and lower edges being formed at an angle so predetermined to the plane of the top plate as to afford ready withdrawal of the supportive lower end panels from a hardened wall to permit the mold form to drop downwardly and facilitate its removal.
 4. In the combination as set forth in claim 2, said end plate including an upper panel having a lower edge, and A lower panel having an upper edge, said upper and lower edges being conjoined in assembly of the mold to support the mold form upon said lower panels, said upper and lower edges being formed at an angle so predetermined to the plane of the top plate as to afford ready withdrawal of the supportive lower end panels from a hardened wall to permit the mold form to drop downwardly and facilitate its removal.
 5. In the combination as set forth in claim 1, said first means being elongated channel members having spaced, parallel side flanges and a web joining said flanges, and wherein said webs abut in the assembled mold, said fastening means being a clamp, including two members relatively movable between a clamping position and a release position, respective lugs carried by said respective members and engageable in said respective channels and carried by said members in said travel, drive means to drive said members toward each other in reciprocable relative travel to the clamping position, or from each other to the release position.
 6. In the combination as set forth in claim 5, each said movable member including at least one flat plate, said respective lugs being mounted upon said respective flat plates, said plates occupying closely juxaposed parallel planes, and said drive means being effective upon said plates to effect said travel of said plates and lugs to a clamping or release position.
 7. In the combination as set forth in claim 6, an elongated slot formed in each plate in parallel relationship, said slots being longitudinally offset with respect to each other, said drive means being a wedge mutually received in said slots and movable to drive said flanges to carry said lugs to said clamping position.
 8. In the combination as set forth in claim 1 a cant ring surmounting said plates, said cant ring including a pair of spaced vertical limbs, a horizontal span disposed to surmount any one of said top plates, and spanning and rigidly conjoining said two limbs, and said cant ring further including an upper section comprising two downwardly elongated limbs, and upper horizontal span spacing and conjoining said limbs, said upper section surmounting said lower section, and means to releasably maintain said upper and lower sections in assembly to afford disassembly thereof from a hardened concrete rail. 